Restrooms can be breeding grounds for disease-spreading bacteria. As a result, there is a growing desire to develop systems for restrooms that eliminate human contact with restroom surfaces. Additionally, water conservation concerns have created a desire to control water usage by preventing excessive flushing.
Many present toilets and urinals are operated by a manual flush handle. The user operates the toilet or urinal by displacing the position of the flush handle. The manual flush handle controls the flow of water into the toilet or urinal device. Manual flush handles present several problems. The problems may include a reluctance to touch the flush handle due to possible bacteria. As a result, the toilet or urinal may remain unflushed, leaving waste in the toilet or urinal, creating the unsanitary conditions.
In addition, a user can often hold the manual flush handle in an open position for an excessive time period. Maintaining the handle in an open position may waste water, and lead to additional costs or flooding. As a result, devices for automatically controlling the flushing of toilets or urinals have been developed.
These devices may include sensors to detect the presence of a user. The device may then flush the toilet or urinal when the sensor no longer detects the presence of the user. When these sensors are directly attached to devices; they are exposed to possible vandalism or theft. Vandalism or theft reduces the cleanliness of the restroom and creates extra expense to repair or replace the device.